There are certain places that slowly become part of your life over the years without you even realizing it. You visit them enough times that they stop feeling like destinations and start feeling familiar. That’s kind of what Beauty and Beast became for Ethan and me.
So when we headed to Ludington on Saturday morning for the AJ Open, we knew it was more than just another disc golf tournament. This would likely be our final time playing those two courses exactly as we’ve known them for years. And somehow, by the end of the day, the trip turned into one of those random life days that feels much bigger in hindsight than it did while it was happening.
The Early Morning Drive North
Ethan and I got up early Saturday morning without much trouble. We’re both used to waking up around 4:30am for work anyway, so getting up early for a day of fun actually felt easy. We left Grand Rapids just after 6am in my F-150 with light rain falling most of the drive north. We had already checked the forecast the night before and knew there was a decent chance we’d be playing disc golf in the rain all morning, so we packed umbrellas, rain gear, and extra clothes just in case.
Thankfully, the weather had other plans.
The rain slowly faded as we got closer to Ludington, and by the time we arrived around 8am, it had stopped completely. The ground was still soaked, and the trees were dripping everywhere, but we never once had to open an umbrella the entire day. It ended up being pretty close to perfect tournament weather once things warmed up later in the afternoon.
Ethan controlled the music during the drive, which mostly meant Black Label Society blasting through the truck speakers the whole way north. Not exactly what I would have picked myself. I probably would’ve thrown on a podcast instead. But honestly, podcasts make conversation harder, and the drive was more about hanging out together than anything else anyway.
We made two stops along the way. The first was Walgreens because Ethan’s allergies had been brutal lately, and Allegra wasn’t doing much anymore. He decided to try generic Zyrtec instead, and I warned him that when I tried Zyrtec years ago, it worked great for allergies but also made me feel like I needed a nap by mid-morning. Sure enough, somewhere north of Whitehall, he started yawning nonstop while drinking coffee, trying to figure out whether he was actually tired or just getting hit by the allergy medicine. Either way, the important thing was that it worked. By the time we got to the courses, his allergies had calmed down a lot.
Our second stop was at a Wesco in Whitehall. I know that stretch of highway pretty well from years of truck driving, and I knew that was basically the last Wesco gas station right off US-31 before Ludington. The stop checked all the necessary northern Michigan road trip boxes at once: gas, bathroom break, coffee refill, and grabbing drinks for the lunch break between rounds. Wesco delivered exactly as expected.
Somewhere between Whitehall and Ludington, another vehicle passed us on the highway, and the driver gave us a wave after spotting the disc golf stickers on the back window of my truck. Sure enough, they had a Discraft sticker on their side window too. Neither of us knew each other, but we both instantly knew exactly where the other person was headed. That’s one of those tiny things that probably sounds meaningless to non-disc golfers, but honestly, it was kind of cool.
Traffic stayed surprisingly light for a Memorial Day weekend morning heading north. I kept the cruise control locked at exactly 75 mph most of the way, which turned out to be the right choice because there were multiple police cars parked in the median hunting for holiday weekend speeders. Leaving early enough so that you never feel rushed always seems to make trips better later.
The Final AJ Open on Beauty and Beast
The AJ Open is held every year at the Mason County Picnic Area in Ludington on two incredible disc golf courses called Beauty and Beast. Or at least… that’s what they’ve been called for years.
This tournament carried extra meaning because it’s the final official tournament being played on those layouts before major park renovations begin. The county is installing paved walking and biking trails throughout the park, which means several existing holes are being changed or removed. Instead of two separate 18-hole courses, the future layout will become a single combined course called Frankenstein, using portions of both Beauty and Beast.
So this likely marked the end of an era. The next time we play there, it won’t quite feel like the same place anymore.
I parked in my usual spot near the edge of the lot, mostly because I like having room to set up chairs during the lunch break between rounds. We checked in, used the restroom one more time, then headed out to warm up. Tournament mornings always have a certain atmosphere to them that’s hard to explain unless you’ve spent years around them. Practice putts hitting chains. Groups throwing warmup drives. Players pretending not to be nervous while quietly trying to convince themselves they’re throwing well.
After Ethan and I played a couple of practice holes together, we wished each other luck and split off toward our starting holes. It was a shotgun start tournament, meaning everybody begins simultaneously on different holes around the course. Ethan started on Beast hole 1 while I started on Beast hole 11, and we were also playing in different divisions that day.
Chasing a State Championship Berth
My main goal entering the tournament was earning a berth into the Michigan Amateur Disc Golf State Championship tournament on Labor Day Weekend.
Originally, I had signed up for the MA50 division for players age 50 and older. But the night before the tournament, we discovered that division would only award one berth, meaning I would basically need to win the division outright. So I switched into MA3 instead, where six berths would be awarded. There were 24 players in the division, and honestly, I liked my chances better there than needing to outright win MA50.
Beast was my first-round course, which is definitely the longer and more difficult course of the two, in my opinion. Temperatures were still in the low 50s when we teed off, and I wore a sweatshirt for most of the round. The damp air and wet woods gave everything that classic northern Michigan tournament feel, where your hands never quite feel warm or fully dry all morning.
But overall, I played smart. No out-of-bounds penalties. No hero shots. No trying to force anything that wasn’t there. Most importantly, I was making putts, and anybody who has played competitive disc golf knows how quickly missed short putts can destroy an otherwise solid round. On this particular day, everything within about 20 to 25 feet felt automatic.
I ended up shooting a 58, which was four over par. The leaders shot 56, meaning I finished round one only two strokes off the lead and would be on chase card for round two. I was thrilled, not necessarily because I thought I was going to win the tournament, but because I had put myself in a position to have a chance. That’s really all you can ask for after round one.
Bruce’s Bad Ass Barbeque and the Afternoon Push
Every time we play in Ludington, Bruce’s Bad Ass Barbeque is there serving lunch at ridiculously fair prices for tournament players. Five bucks got you your choice of giant homemade hot dogs, brats, smoked sloppy joes, or pulled pork sandwiches with homemade sauces.
Disc golfers appreciate food vendors more than they probably realize, especially after hiking through woods and hills carrying bags for several hours.
By lunchtime, temperatures had warmed into the upper 60s whenever the sun broke through the clouds, so I switched into shorts before round two and was glad I did. Beauty was my afternoon course, and compared to Beast, Beauty plays shorter but much more technical. More woods. More tight gaps. More situations where one tiny tree kick can completely change an entire hole.
But once again, my shots felt solid most of the afternoon. With four holes left, I realized I was only one stroke behind one of the leaders on my card. I had no clue what lead card was doing because cell service in that area is terrible, and several groups were keeping paper scorecards instead of live scoring online. Still, I knew I had a chance if I finished strong.
And somehow, by the end of the round, I had beaten that player by one stroke.
Then came the long walk back to tournament central to wait for final scores to get posted. Two players tied for first place at 109 total, and I finished tied for third at 110. One freaking stroke off from being tied for first!
Naturally, my brain immediately started replaying every small mistake from the day. That missed opportunity here. That slightly questionable decision there. That one putt. That one tree. Sports have a funny way of doing that to your brain even after a good performance.
Still, I had accomplished my real goal.
I earned a berth into the Michigan Amateur Disc Golf State Championship tournament, and honestly, tying for third out of 24 players in MA3 is probably one of the better tournament performances I’ve had in years. Especially because I actually felt calm and in control most of the day instead of mentally spiraling every time something went wrong.
Ethan, Disc Baron, and the End of the Tournament
Ethan didn’t have his best tournament, but definitely not his worst either. He finished 8th out of 30 players in MA2, which is still respectable in a strong field with a lot of solid players.
Both of us cashed in amateur payouts through Disc Baron, the tournament sponsor. I received $97 in store credit while Ethan earned $71. For non-disc golfers reading this, amateur players in sanctioned PDGA events can’t receive cash payouts, so winnings come in the form of merchandise credit instead. Honestly, most disc golfers are perfectly happy with that arrangement because we’re all just going to spend the money on more discs anyway.
After the tournament wrapped up, we hung around the pavilion talking with other players and watching state berths get awarded. We also spent some time catching up with Jacob, owner of Disc Baron. Both Ethan and I are part of Team Disc Baron, which basically means we represent the shop by wearing their gear, supporting them online, and helping promote them when we can. In return, we get discounts and a few perks, but more than anything, it just feels like being part of a really good local disc golf community.
And since Disc Baron is less than a mile from our house, it naturally became our home disc golf shop years ago.
Blackjack in Manistee
A little after 4pm, Ethan and I left Ludington and headed farther north toward Manistee and Little River Casino. Before leaving the disc golf course, I changed out of my shorts and into jeans and a sweatshirt, knowing we’d be indoors the rest of the night. Oddly enough, the sweatshirt I grabbed was an old Ludington State Park sweatshirt from a camping trip years ago. Kind of fitting for a day spent bouncing around the Ludington and Manistee area.
At that point, the trip quietly shifted from disc golf tournament mode into casino getaway mode.
Little River is one of the few casinos in Michigan that allows 18-year-olds to gamble, so Ethan had been excited to go back ever since his 18th birthday trip there last year. That birthday trip also accidentally created something else entirely: my weird year-long blackjack obsession.
At the time, I barely understood basic strategy. Since then, I’ve completely memorized it and spent the last year learning everything I can about blackjack strategy, probability, and ways to slightly improve the odds against the house. I’ve basically become knowledgeable enough to realize how much more there still is to learn, which honestly feels like how most hobbies eventually work.
The casino was absolutely packed when we arrived around 4:30pm. Being a holiday weekend in northern Michigan pretty much guaranteed that. We wandered around the slot machines for a while while I unsuccessfully tried identifying possible advantage-play situations on machines I only partially understood, which honestly probably looked ridiculous from the outside.
Eventually, we found ourselves at the blackjack tables.
The Dealers, The Cards, and the Buffet
The first blackjack dealer we played with was incredibly good at his job. Fast, sharp, conversational, and completely in control of the table the entire time. Unfortunately, he also seemed personally blessed by the gambling gods because he proceeded to deal himself what felt like nonstop 20s and 21s during the first couple of shoes.
Ethan and I each bought in for $200 at a $15 minimum blackjack table, which was the cheapest table available in the casino that afternoon. That seems to be pretty standard everywhere now, unless you’re gambling at three in the morning on a Tuesday somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
After a couple of shoes and a dealer change, I walked away down about $30 while Ethan had lost a little more than that. From there, we moved over to Three Card Poker for a while. At one point, Ethan accidentally folded A-2-3, which is a straight in Three Card Poker. The dealer immediately stopped the game, called over the pit boss, explained that Ethan was inexperienced, and somehow convinced them to let him keep the hand and collect the winnings anyway. But only once.
The pit boss gave him the kind of warning that basically says, “This is absolutely not happening again,” while still trying to stay professional about it. The dealer was incredibly cool throughout the whole thing though and kept telling us to ask questions anytime we weren’t sure about something. Good casino dealers really do make a huge difference in the overall experience.
By the time we left that table, I was down around $50 total while Ethan’s original $200 buy-in was slowly dwindling away across different games. Then we found the buffet, which immediately improved morale significantly.
Prime rib and Lobster were the featured entrees. Everything else was really good too. Admittedly, we both ate too much which is nearly impossible not to do at an all-you-can-eat buffet, that also included desserts.
This became Ethan’s delayed birthday dinner since his actual birthday landed in the middle of the work week this year. After dinner, Ethan explored some slots and video poker while I headed back toward blackjack for one final session before we left.
The Final Blackjack Run
I sat down with the $150 I had left in chips and slowly started grinding through shoes for the next hour or so. The dealers all had that extra level of energy you really only notice during busy casino weekends when everybody is chasing tips and trying to keep the atmosphere upbeat.
Then an older dealer took over the table, and suddenly, blackjack started going my way. Blackjacks started hitting. Double downs connected. Dealers busted repeatedly. The entire rhythm of the table completely shifted, and anybody who plays blackjack knows how quickly momentum can feel different even though mathematically nothing has really changed.
I don’t usually tip dealers by simply handing over chips directly. Instead, I’ll occasionally place small side bets for the dealer alongside my own hand, so if my hand wins, theirs wins too. It feels more fun that way, and honestly, most dealers seem to enjoy it more, too, because they get to actually root along with the hand.
Eventually, my stack climbed from $150 all the way up to $320. I figured that was probably my sign to leave. Because if there’s one thing blackjack players eventually learn, it’s that winning isn’t actually the hardest part. Walking away after winning is.
By the time we cashed out, I finished the day up about $120 overall at the casino. Ethan ended up losing the full $200 he had originally bought in with earlier in the night, but it happened gradually across several different games before the last of it disappeared during that final blackjack session sitting next to me. He was completely fine with it, though. He was there to gamble and have fun, not obsessively study blackjack strategy for the past year like I apparently decided to do.
The Drive Home and the Real Point of the Day
By 8pm, we still had more than a two-hour drive back to Grand Rapids ahead of us. The drive home felt quiet in a good way. More Black Label Society played through the speakers while Ethan and I recapped everything that happened throughout the day: the tournament, the casino, the dealers, the barbecue, the other players, the weird little moments along the way.
And somewhere during that drive, I realized something…
The actual activities aren’t the main thing you remember later. It’s the people. The random disc golfer waving on the highway. The barbecue crew feeding tired disc golfers between rounds. The casino dealers trying to keep tables loose and fun during packed holiday weekend chaos. The conversations. The interactions. Those are the things that quietly become the real story years later.
By the time we got home, Susie and Elena were sitting on the couch watching a movie. They paused it while Ethan and I unloaded the entire day back to them, piece by piece, while hearing about their day too. Before long, all of us were exhausted.
And after a full day of disc golf, driving, casinos, competition, gambling, walking, and nonstop activity, my achy 50-year-old body was more than ready for bed. As fun as the entire day had been, there’s still nothing quite like finally crawling into your own bed at the end of it.